The Vancouver Canucks took a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference First Round by defeating the Nashville Predators 4-3 in overtime at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday. Brock Boeser scored two late goals in the third period to force extra time before Elias Lindholm ended the contest early in the extra session.
Vancouver struck first just 2:55 into the opening period when Boeser scored on a wrist shot set up by J.T. Miller and Carson Soucy. Nashville answered quickly at 5:34 when Mark Jankowski redirected a shot past Arturs Silovs, with Jeremy Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier collecting the assists. The Predators seized the lead in the second period at 5:21, as Gustav Nyquist buried a wrist shot off a feed from Ryan O'Reilly.
Nashville expanded the advantage only 12 seconds into the third period when Filip Forsberg deflected in a shot from Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh. The Canucks mounted their late comeback with under three minutes remaining in regulation. Boeser trimmed the deficit to one at 17:11 on a wrist shot assisted by Lindholm and Miller, then completed his hat trick with eight seconds left on the clock with Miller and Elias Pettersson assisting. Lindholm completed the win 1:02 into overtime, beating Juuse Saros with a wrist shot off passes from Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua.
Silovs stopped 27 of 30 shots to earn the victory in net for Vancouver. Saros made 17 saves on 21 shots in the loss for the Predators. Both teams came up empty on the man advantage, as Vancouver went 0 for 2 on the power play while Nashville finished 0 for 2.
The victory moves Vancouver one win away from advancing in the postseason, holding a 3-1 edge in the best-of-seven series. Boeser finished the game with three points on three goals, while Miller contributed three assists. Lindholm totaled two points on a goal and an assist to lead the Canucks.
